What no one really seem to expect when starting out in Standup Comedy is that you can love the stage as much as you want but the stage might never love you. Starting out in comedy with the intention to have fun and being prepared to work a lot for nothing is more likely to get you somewhere than if you are aiming at becoming a star within two years.
A lot of rookies have quit when they realized that they weren't going to become a success story any time now.
One of the best advises someone gave me when I started out was "Remember, there is no such thing as justice in comedy". How many times hasn't that advise turned out to be the one truth that helped me just keep going and do what I love expecting nothing in return. There is also a mentality that it takes seven years to become a good comedian. When looking around and looking back at my own journey, I see some truth in that. When you meet comedians who have worked the comedy stages for seven years, you can tell that there is something more than just timing, good material and good acting, it is the fact that they do it all so well without flaws.
I can not say that I am there yet but my performance onstage has improved a lot the more I have been up there. But it seems like some comedians think that they can cut corners by going up often onstage. Like if they have performed 100 times in the first year then they are as good as a comedian who have performed 50 times in two years. Sometimes they are but in many cases it seems like performing often robs them of an opportunity to analyse what they are doing, thus they can not improve anything.
There is a mentality when you start out that makes you think you did well even when you didn't onstage. Later it is the opposite, you fail to notice success.
Anyhow. Go onstage and have fun.